UPDATE: 4:49 p.m.. -- Detroit station WDIV-TV says that the Wayne County Board of Canvassers is declining to certify the vote count after releasing figures earlier today that show a major discrepancy from unofficial tallies and a different winner of the August mayoral primary than previously announced. They are requesting that the state of Michigan validate the votes after announcing that Benny Napoleon won the election by 4,421 votes, rather than Mike Duggan, who was shown to be the winner in an unofficial count released by the City of Detroit on Aug. 4.
"Our opponents tried another dirty trick today and it didn't work," said Bryan Barnhill, campaign manager for Mike Duggan's mayoral candidacy, in a statement sent to The Huffington Post. "To its credit, the Board of Canvassers unanimously refused to disenfranchise 18,000 Detroiters who properly cast their write-in votes for Mike Duggan. We're confident the State Elections Division will certify the results of the election properly and make certain that all votes are counted."
Earlier...
DETROIT -- Nearly two weeks after an unofficial tally named write-in candidate Mike Duggan the winner of Detroit's mayoral primary, the Board of Canvassers for Wayne County, Mich. (where Detroit is located) has reportedly reversed that decision.
The Board said that Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, who had unofficially placed second in the results, actually won the primary with 28,391 votes, or 41 percent, according to the Detroit News. They say Duggan received 23,970 votes, or 34 percent.
That's a massive discrepancy when compared to the Election Night results, where, according to the Associated Press, Duggan was reported to have won the primary with almost 45,000 votes, or 46 percent of the electoral tallies.
Duggan had to run as a write-in candidate after a technicality in his petition to run for mayor barred him from the ballot. Both men will still face each other in the November election.
Napoleon called for federal oversight of the mayoral election in November in a statement sent to The Huffington Post.
“This is no small margin of error. This is very troubling and I believe it is cause for Detroit’s General Election to be overseen by the highest authority – either the Federal Elections Commission or the Department of Justice. Detroiters need to know their votes count and is not predicated on someone’s actions or inactions. We must protect our most sacred right at all costs.”
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